Trump is apparently lobbying every Senator that will listen about firing Jeff Sessions, as he will need their support to confirm a replacement when he finally does fire Sessions:
POLITICO – The willingness of Republican senators to turn on Attorney General Jeff Sessions is the result of a furious lobbying campaign from President Donald Trump, who for the past 10 days has been venting his anger at Sessions to “any senator who will listen,” as one GOP Senate aide put it.
The president, who has spent a year and a half fulminating against his attorney general in public, finally got traction on Capitol Hill thanks to the growing frustration of a handful of GOP senators with their former colleague – most importantly, Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, who have been irritated by Sessions’ opposition to a criminal justice reform bill they support, according to interviews with more than a half-dozen congressional GOP aides, Trump advisers, and Republicans close to the White House.
Trump raised the prospect of firing Sessions last week in a phone conversation with Graham, according to two Capitol Hill aides, who said that Graham pressed the president to hold off until after the midterm elections. The president has also complained loudly about Sessions to several Republican senators, according to a GOP chief staff.
Grassley has not gotten a call from the White House, according to a Republican familiar with events.
Trump hasn’t been pushing his case just with Republican senators: He’s worn down his lawyers, too, according to two Republicans close to the White House. Though they once cautioned him that dismissing Sessions would feed special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Trump’s potential obstruction of justice, these people say, Trump’s legal team has become increasingly convinced Mueller will make that case regardless of whether the president fires Sessions or leaves him in place.
It’s not just about the Mueller investigation anymore:
If Sessions’ recusal was his original sin, Trump has come to resent him for other reasons, griping to aides and lawmakers that the attorney general doesn’t have the Ivy League pedigree the president prefers, that he can’t stand his Southern accent and that Sessions isn’t a capable defender of the president on television — in part because he “talks like he has marbles in his mouth,” the president has told aides.
His non-Ivy League pedigree? His Southern accent? Marbles in his mouth?
Geez, Trump can be petty. But this we already knew.
Even Laura Ingraham is bothered by it:
??!! “Trump has come to resent [Sessions] for other reasons, griping to aides and lawmakers that [he] doesn’t have the Ivy League pedigree the president prefers, that he can’t stand his Southern accent” https://t.co/xD1BBDlWFT
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) August 30, 2018
Very unwise if @realDonaldTrump is criticizing Sessions’ accent and legal pedigree—unless POTUS wants to offend his most ardent ‘Bama supporters.
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) August 30, 2018
Sessions still has the support of Top Republicans in the Senate, who reportedly see their job as protecting Trump from himself:
Top Senate Republicans see their job, in part, as blocking Trump’s worst moves, several senators said this week. Firing Sessions at this time, or moving against Mueller, fall into those categories.
Sessions maintains the critical support of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who told reporters Tuesday, “I have total confidence in the attorney general; I think he ought to stay exactly where he is.” McConnell’s No. 2, Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), has joined Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) in making public statements of support for Sessions in recent days.
I really don’t think Trump will fire Sessions before November. But once the election is over, all bets are off.